I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: June 1, 2018] Primus

My friend Al and I saw Primus back in 1990 or 1991.  It was an amazing show and I have been a fan ever since.  And yet for some reason I had never seen them live again.  During all of their iterations and tours–headlines, festivals, everything.  In recent years I have really wanted to see them but something always kept me from going.

I missed their Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2014) show because of a vacation.   I somehow missed a summerstage tour in 2015 with two other bands I would have loved to see.  There was no local show in 2016 and then I was busy in 2017.  So here it was, finally a chance to see them.  (Setlists for those shows do show rather few songs, I must admit…really I should have gone to the two-set shows back in 2012).

Anyhow, it had been nearly 30 years and I was excited to see anything.

So it’s a bit of a shame I couldn’t see much.  I don’t know if their light show was designed more for outside, but in this cavernous dark auditorium, the band members were almost entirely obscured.

This was pretty much the best I ever saw Ler the whole night.  Although I could see his fingers for many of the songs and that’s more important–I’ve always wanted to see how he made those sounds!

I never saw Herb the Ginseng Drummer the whole night.  It could have been anyone–except that it was clearly him playing.

Les was visible from time to time.  It was impossible to get in front of him–really crowded over there.  So I was able to see him from afar.

I didn’t know what they’d play, so I was thrilled to have them start with “Too Many Puppies.”  “Sgt Baker” was a surprise to me as I didn’t think it was a song people liked.  And I was really surprised that they played “Last Salmon Man” from Green Naugahyde.

They were all great and fun to hear.  But none were as great as hearing “The Heckler” from Suck on This.  I just assumed they never played anything from that first album, so it was very cool indeed.

Les made a joke about the show moving inside because of the storm and how he’s always wanted to play this venue (I didn’t realize that they had played Summer Stage three of the last four years when he said this).  Even though he was stoked to play the building, he ultimately decided it sounded like an airplane hangar.

By this time the Primus pit was pretty huge and unruly (and drunk).  I had a spot I was really happy with, but the people around me were terrible.  A lot of pushing (but not pit, pushing, just pushing) and, worse yet a loud drunk guy who felt compelled to talk to me about how great the show was.

So I fled to the back for “Southbound Pachyderm,” a song I’ve never loved, although it takes on a new kind of magic live.

And then they launched into the new EP.  I knew that they were playing the entirety of their new release The Desaturated Seven, which was fine.  Any Primus is better than no Primus, but I must admit that the entirety of the EP was something of a mood killer.  Even if some of the songs have great riffs.  A lot of people left for more drinks during this 30 minute “break.”

I have to say that the visuals were stunning and the use of color after the pale opening was terrific.  It was also fun seeing Les in that ram’s hat he was wearing.  This drink-run also allowed me to wend my way back near the front for the end of the set.

After the EP was over they played some older songs.  I was really surprised by Nature Boy.  I guess Pork Soda is their biggest album, but I just assume there are so many other songs that were bigger hits for them.  Especially when it was followed by “Welcome to this World.”

The big hit finally came when the played “My Name Is Mud.”  That was fun to hear live and the crowd reacted accordingly.  I was really happy to hear “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver” even if they only played the end half.

Their encore break lasted a really long time.  So long that I wasn’t sure if there was going to be one.  Then they came back out and we had a choice of encores, “John the Fisherman” or “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver” (seems to me if they hadn’t taken so long they could have played both).  I was excited the audience voted “John” over Wynona, because it was awesome to see Ler play this classic.

The lights went out and again, they stayed out for a long time suggesting another encore but after easily 3 minutes of darkness, the pavilion lights came back on and that was it.

It was great to see Primus again, but overall the show wasn’t quite what I wanted.  The band sounded great.  It was awesome seeing Ler up close.  And I got to hear some faves.

I guess if you’ve seen them year after year like so many of these fans had, getting a whole new EP was special, but I wanted to hear “Tommy the Cat,” “Mr Knowitall” “Harold of the rocks” “Pudding Time” “Eleven” “Is it Luck?” or even “Pork Soda.”  They announced a slowdown after this tour.

Maybe in 2020 they’ll be back for a big two set career-capping tour.

1. Too Many Puppies
2. Sgt. Baker
3. Last Salmon Man
4. The Heckler
5. Southbound Pachyderm
6. The Valley
7. The Seven
8. The Trek
9. The Scheme
10. The Dream
11. The Storm
12. The Ends?
13. Nature Boy
14. Welcome to This World
15. My Name Is Mud
    (preceded by ““Professor Nutbutter’s House of Treats” tease)
16. Jerry Was a Race Car Driver
    (from “Dog will hunt”)
17. Encore:
18. John the Fisherman